‘Bold’ action needed to support growing businesses

The UK economy remains weak despite businesses widely reporting growth, according to the latest survey from the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).

But the quarterly survey of approximately 8,000 small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) indicated that the pace of activity isn’t quick enough to support sustainable recovery.

There was a small rise in exporting activities amongst firms in the service and manufacturing industry in Q2 of 2012, but domestic activity showed no real growth.

In terms of employment plans, manufacturing firms reported static levels of job creation to the previous quarter, whereas service sector firms saw an increasing amount of new vacancies being created.

BCC’s Director General John Langworth urged the government to take a proactive approach and create conditions favourable to SMEs: “Growth cannot wait. The government must take an imaginative and brave approach to stimulating the economy and helping businesses thrive.

“Headline-grabbing U-turns on fuel duty are not enough to get the economy back on track. “

As of 2016, cash funded through Invoice Discounting was almost £180 billion and the manufacturing industry accounted for a large number of clients using this flexible facility.